11/04/2016

Donald Trump a Comic Book Character?

The Donald's life has been turned into a comic book--not sure whether to laugh or cry.-PJ Gach Image courtesy of Tidal Wave Comics

Tidal Wave Comics, the company that brought you comic book biographies of Prince and Julia Child, have turned their collective hands at creating a political comic book. Donald Trump: The Road to the White House, written by Michael Frizell and featuring art by Nathan Webb, retraces Trump's rise from a contender for the Republican party nomination, to his oft-times fraught race to the White House. His rise to political heights is viewed (in the comic) by an undecided voter living somewhere in the Midwest.

“It’s different than other scripts I’ve written for Storm,” said Frizell from his office at Missouri State University in Springfield in a press release. “Researching his life and ensuring I had well-documented facts from which to draw became paramount.” The comic book format proved to be a challenge when crafting the story. “Much has been written about Trump’s run already. My task as the writer of creative nonfiction comic books is to present my subject in an entertaining manner while attending to the spirit of the truth of a moment I couldn’t have witnessed,” said Frizell. “Getting his voice right was important, too. I want the characters to sound real.”

Nathan Webb was thrilled to illustrate the script. “Working on this comic has been a series of firsts for me,” said Webb in a press release. “It’s my first political comic, the first time I've penciled inked and colored an entire comic, and my first American comic."

The idea of Donald Trump's life being turned into a comic, to me, is a somewhat ironic one. He has always appeared to be a bombastic narcissist who relished being in the spotlight. If you could take a step back and look at his life dispassionately, he, or his actions are startlingly similar to people who crave to be the "It Girl" or "It Boy" of the season. I'm sure if Donald had been born as a millenial, he'd be desperately trying to score high numbers in Instragram, and on his blog--which I'm sure would be loaded with Outfits of The Day and places he visited posts, and vying to be a top influencer.

While he may be as mentally vacuous as an influencer, his leap from a real estate developer who was much better at leasing his name to other developers than creating viable and profitable companies into a political force is a frightening one. His rhetoric is full of hate speech. His economic plans for the country aren't really feasible, he seems to have a limited grasp on how the world works--whenever anything goes wrong for him, his response is that it's rigged-whether it's an Emmy or an election.

Personally, I've gotten to the point in my life that whenever I hear him or hear news about him, I have an anxiety attack. It's like a Pavlovian response. He's on the news spouting something horrific, and I start hyperventilating.

I wonder daily if he's ever read the constitituton, understands the Bill of Rights, and how this country works. In my darkest moments, I feel that if he is elected to run this country, will we as a country experience a series of Krstal Nachts? Will blacked out buses roam the streets looking for anyone who looks "other," grab them, whisk them away and they'll never be heard from again?

Trump's rhetoric leans closer to fascisim than the republican party ideal. And speaking of irony, Lincoln's politcal party was republican. How the party that abhorred slavery is now embracing Trump boggles the mind. Speaking of republicans, as a group they've turned out to be a party of ball-less wonders, more concerned with keeping their seat in the senate or congress, than doing the job they were elected to do. They'd cuddle up with the reincarnation of Atilla the Hun, if he were a republican who had amassed enough of the popular vote, so they could keep their day job.

This comic can be viewed as entertainment, as an investment--yes, there are people who buy comics to invest in, or as something to use for a bonfire. There will be people who buy this comic and frame it. They're the ones who feel that Trump is going to make "America Great Again."

America has always been great. America has always been a beacon of hope, a breath of freedom to the persecuted, the downtrodden, the ones who have never been free. We can only hope that this country stays this way.

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Donald Trump a Comic Book Character?

The Donald's life has been turned into a comic book--not sure whether to laugh or cry.-PJ Gach Image courtesy of Tidal Wave Comics

Tidal Wave Comics, the company that brought you comic book biographies of Prince and Julia Child, have turned their collective hands at creating a political comic book. Donald Trump: The Road to the White House, written by Michael Frizell and featuring art by Nathan Webb, retraces Trump's rise from a contender for the Republican party nomination, to his oft-times fraught race to the White House. His rise to political heights is viewed (in the comic) by an undecided voter living somewhere in the Midwest.

“It’s different than other scripts I’ve written for Storm,” said Frizell from his office at Missouri State University in Springfield in a press release. “Researching his life and ensuring I had well-documented facts from which to draw became paramount.” The comic book format proved to be a challenge when crafting the story. “Much has been written about Trump’s run already. My task as the writer of creative nonfiction comic books is to present my subject in an entertaining manner while attending to the spirit of the truth of a moment I couldn’t have witnessed,” said Frizell. “Getting his voice right was important, too. I want the characters to sound real.”

Nathan Webb was thrilled to illustrate the script. “Working on this comic has been a series of firsts for me,” said Webb in a press release. “It’s my first political comic, the first time I've penciled inked and colored an entire comic, and my first American comic."

The idea of Donald Trump's life being turned into a comic, to me, is a somewhat ironic one. He has always appeared to be a bombastic narcissist who relished being in the spotlight. If you could take a step back and look at his life dispassionately, he, or his actions are startlingly similar to people who crave to be the "It Girl" or "It Boy" of the season. I'm sure if Donald had been born as a millenial, he'd be desperately trying to score high numbers in Instragram, and on his blog--which I'm sure would be loaded with Outfits of The Day and places he visited posts, and vying to be a top influencer.

While he may be as mentally vacuous as an influencer, his leap from a real estate developer who was much better at leasing his name to other developers than creating viable and profitable companies into a political force is a frightening one. His rhetoric is full of hate speech. His economic plans for the country aren't really feasible, he seems to have a limited grasp on how the world works--whenever anything goes wrong for him, his response is that it's rigged-whether it's an Emmy or an election.

Personally, I've gotten to the point in my life that whenever I hear him or hear news about him, I have an anxiety attack. It's like a Pavlovian response. He's on the news spouting something horrific, and I start hyperventilating.

I wonder daily if he's ever read the constitituton, understands the Bill of Rights, and how this country works. In my darkest moments, I feel that if he is elected to run this country, will we as a country experience a series of Krstal Nachts? Will blacked out buses roam the streets looking for anyone who looks "other," grab them, whisk them away and they'll never be heard from again?

Trump's rhetoric leans closer to fascisim than the republican party ideal. And speaking of irony, Lincoln's politcal party was republican. How the party that abhorred slavery is now embracing Trump boggles the mind. Speaking of republicans, as a group they've turned out to be a party of ball-less wonders, more concerned with keeping their seat in the senate or congress, than doing the job they were elected to do. They'd cuddle up with the reincarnation of Atilla the Hun, if he were a republican who had amassed enough of the popular vote, so they could keep their day job.

This comic can be viewed as entertainment, as an investment--yes, there are people who buy comics to invest in, or as something to use for a bonfire. There will be people who buy this comic and frame it. They're the ones who feel that Trump is going to make "America Great Again."

America has always been great. America has always been a beacon of hope, a breath of freedom to the persecuted, the downtrodden, the ones who have never been free. We can only hope that this country stays this way.